Standard Disclaim- Why am I even typing this anymore?

The ride to the Nagumo residence was completely silent. She could feel Kaoru's eyes on her throughout, but whenever she looked up, he had already turned away. It was a rather uncomfortable car ride, so when they finally arrived at the familiar mansion, she heaved a sigh of relief. She was promptly led to the living room where they were seated and served hot tea.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Kaoru questioned after setting his teacup down. Chizuru sipped her tea quickly before putting it down as well.

"I…met mother and father."

"What?!" he hissed. Immediately, his eyes flashed over to Shizuka who defiantly stared back at him. At her confident stance, he quickly realized she would not be backing down or apologizing any time soon. He would have to talk to her later about following his orders.

"Yes, and they told me about you."

His eyes remained narrowed. "What did they say?"

"That you've…changed," she glanced down, almost regretfully. Then, she met his eyes again. "Tell me, Kaoru. Why are you treating them like strangers? They're our parents!"

Before she could even register it, he had already left his seat and pinned her against the backrest.

"They left us, Chizuru! Do you not see that? They're the ones asking for this treatment!"

The desperation in his voice was tugging at her resolution. It made her want to push everything aside and pull him into a tight hug, to tell him that she was here now and he didn't need to worry anymore, anything to calm his harsh breathing. But that wouldn't be saving him. That would only be helping him run away from the situation. So she pushed herself to a standing position and grabbed ahold of his arms, which had slackened from her sudden movement.

"They didn't leave us; they only left me. You've been by their side this whole time! How could you not see that?"

His fingers abruptly dug into her shoulders and she winced painfully. She vaguely noticed Shizuka dash out of the room but didn't indulge in it any further. She had helped enough in getting Chizuru to this point, and she was extremely grateful for that, but she didn't want to involve her in their family drama anymore than she needed to. It was probably for the best that she had left the room.

Kaoru roughly shook her, bringing her back to the present. "They sold me off! How could that not count as leaving me? I'm no longer a Yukimura! Have you ever registered that into your head?"

"No! I haven't registered that, because to me you will always be my brother! Just like how to our parents, you will always be their son!"

"Then explain why they sold me off to another family."

"To give you a better life! Why else?!"

"For money! There was a chance, and they took it!"

Chizuru froze. Did he know the Nagumos needed a son?

He saw her hesitation and smirked bitterly. "That's right. The Nagumo's wanted a son, and they gave him a son, their son. They abandoned me in favour of money."

"That's not true!" she cried.

"How is it not? The clues are all laid out! I did my research, and I read the articles. It's so obv-"

"Have you even bothered asking them? Our parents, the Nagumo's, anyone?"

It was Kaoru's turn to pause.

"That's what I thought. You haven't talked to anyone about it." He's been trying to cope with everything by himself, Chizuru thought. He's been living here with two families, and all the wealth he would ever need, yet ironically he was all alone. Rather than getting involved in the people around him, he had chosen to avoid them. It was time somewhat talked some sense into him. "I want you to listen to me right now -no interruptions- and then I'll listen to you after -no interruptions either. Deal?"

Kaoru didn't nod but she started anyway.

"I've always thought that our parents left me because they didn't want me anymore. I had nightmares about it every night. It was...horrible. Then one day, Chikage showed up. And I…I didn't know who he was."

She felt Kaoru tense and, knowing he would ask her about it, she quickly put a palm to his mouth. She didn't want him interrupting right now.

"I lost some of my memories at some point…but the point is, I never forgot about my family, about you."

At this point, Kaoru grabbed her hand and yanked it away from his mouth. "I never forgot about you either," he declared.

She pouted but found herself unable to stay mad. "You broke the deal…but thanks. For not forgetting about me. Now shush and let me continue." She took a deep breath before doing so. "I…I was really jealous of you, and I still am. Though you carried a new family name, you were still with mother and father physically. You had them all to yourselves, yet you wasted it. When I heard how you treated them, I just had to confront you about it.

"What I said about them giving you a better life…that was true. Growing up in a wealthy family would give you leverage, was what they told me. The Nagumos wanted a son, so it was the perfect opportunity. I wasn't given that opportunity, but I was handed to a trustworthy caretaker instead. They told me the other day that they love us both equally, and that is proof of it. They were trying to balance out what we receive, not trying to get rid of you. Why would you believe in old scraps of paper or whatever you read, rather than the words of your own family? Please Kaoru, believe in me. Believe in them."

When she finished, she was a teary and breathless mess, and was sobbing into his shoulder. When he didn't start talking, she pulled back to glance at him. "This is your cue, you know."

He appeared flustered, eyes staring at her widely. She heard him gulp loudly.

"I…I was jealous of you. When they…when they left you, they let you keep the Yukimura name. It was as though they had higher expectations in you than they had in me, like they knew you would do a better job in not bringing shame to the family. You were always the more friendly and considerate one, and these were the traits that the Yukimuras were known for. I was like a shadow compared to you."

"Is that it?" she asked after Kaoru didn't say anything else.

"I don't know what else to say."

"I have a question, and please answer me honestly. Why did you try to hide them?" She wasn't asking it accusingly. The last thing she wanted was for Kaoru to lose his trust in her too. She just wanted to know.

"It was the only thing I could do to…fight against you."

"I wasn't aware we were fighting."

There was a sad smile adorned on his face. "I hated you deeply at one point. I formed a mental battle between us during that period. Ever since then, it's been ongoing inside my mind. Not letting you meet them was so I could have an advantage over you."

"I…see." She didn't know what to say to that. Her brother just basically told her he hated her. Had he been forcing himself to act lovingly towards her all this time then?

"But it wasn't all from hatred," he reassured immediately, noticing her dejected state. "It was also from love. I didn't want them to hurt you. I didn't know what they would do if they met you."

"Oh, Kaoru." She pulled him into a hug. Just how confused was he? How lonely had he been to distrust people so much? "You know they would never try to hurt us. They've been doing what's best for us for years, and that hasn't changed."

"That's right. We're your parents after all." An older female voice joined in. The two turned to look at who had entered the room when they saw both their parents and a softly smiling Shizuka standing behind them. The couple walked over to them and before she could even greet them properly, they had already pulled them into an embrace. "My sweet Kaoru, do you know just how long I've wanted to do this for?" Their mother tightened her hold on them. If not for the touching moment, she would have attempted to push her away. It was getting hard to breathe.

But when she caught the tears begin to well up in Kaoru's eyes, she couldn't help but smile.

Their father ruffled Kaoru's hair affectionately. "It's been a while, kiddo."

"Mom, Dad…I-"

"Mother, Father…"

They both called out at the same time, but their choice of words were different.

"Oh, they still call us differently. How nostalgic," Mrs. Yukimura sighed blissfully.

Chizuru smiled. "You first," she said to Kaoru. He looked shellshocked right now from all the love he was being showered in. It must have been years since he's last been this close to someone.

"I…I'm sorry I-"

"Kaoru, it's okay," their father reassured. "We forgive you."

"But you do owe us," their mother chimed in. "You owe us lots of love! We expect kisses and hugs everyday!"

"Mom!" he whined, clearly embarrassed. His tone reminded Chizuru of the past, when he used to complain to their parents about everything. It was so reminiscent of their childhood days that she started spouting her own tears.

"I'm so glad," she whispered.

"There's something I have to tell you two…" Chizuru suddenly said. She eyed Kaoru who nodded solemnly in return. They had all been chatting nicely with each other for the past few minutes, but she knew she would have to reveal the truth regarding the fall soon.

But both she and Kaoru were left dumbfounded when they smiled. "We know."

"What?!"

Kaoru recovered faster. "How long have you known?"

"From the very beginning."

"You...didn't tell us?" Chizuru asked, disheartened at having been kept in the dark for so long.

"You were working for the ones who ruined your business! And you sold me to that same family! Were you okay with that?"

"Of course we weren't, but there wasn't much we could do. And fighting back would only add more hatred to it. If we had told you two about it, you would have grown up hating the Kazamas and Nagumos. How would that affect your relationship with Chikage-kun, Chizuru?" Her mother turned to her.

"Well…"

"If I had told you sooner, you might have started to hate him. However, you found out after you started living with him, after you started getting close to him. As it is, you can't see him as someone who would bring any harm to you, isn't that right?"

She slowly nodded. That was true. She hadn't felt any anger towards him at all. He had even been willing to go against his own family to help her. Even toward his mother, who she now knows on a personal basis, she felt no hatred.

"And Kaoru. I know you've heard this a thousand times from Chizuru already, but we wanted to give you what we no longer had: wealth. The Nagumos wanted a son, so we knew they would treat you right. They were never the talkative type however, so that's why we would walk by to see you every so often…but you always pushed us away."

He apologized again, ashamed of his behaviour for all these years.

"As long as you understand how much we love you now." Mr. Yukimura put a large hand on his shoulder tenderly.

"I do," he said with a small smile.

Seeing that he understood, their mother started on a different note. "You know, despite everything that transpired, the Kazama and Nagumo families are still our closest friends…"

Shizuka watched as Mr. and Mrs. Nagumo eavesdropped on the conversation going on in the living room.

"…We may not be wealthy with our own money anymore, but the Nagumos are still letting us live luxuriously. The rewards we get are much more than our work is worth, that's for sure. It's very sad that they are avoiding us however."

She raised an eyebrow when her parents flinched.

"We know it's a touchy subject, and we have an idea why they did what they did, but we won't ask about it any further. We just want to talk…like we used to."

Their shoulders slumped, as though in defeat.

"Do you feel guilty now?" she asked her parents.

"If anything," her mother started, turning away from the reunion scene. "I feel even more jealous."

This nearly angered her - had her parents not learned anything? Jealousy was what started this whole mess in the first place!

Their next words silenced her though.

"If only we could be as kind as they are."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and her parents offered a small smile. They had come to a conclusion, it seemed. These were the words they should have said many years ago, words of respect, of admiration, and it was about time they finally conveyed them.

She found him waiting for her in her bedroom.

"Welcome back," he greeted simply. He didn't get off the couch though, so she knew she was supposed to join him there. She smiled and made her way over before plopping down rather unceremoniously. It had been a long day - he couldn't judge her for that.

"I'm back."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Well..." She remembered her shoulder where Kaoru had dug his fingernails into. "No."

"I don't appreciate being lied to."

"He didn't do it on purpose...and it doesn't hurt that much. It probably didn't even leave a mark."

"We'll see," was all he said before he pulled her outer jacket off.

"Hey!" she struggled. "It's okay!"

"Says who?" he muttered. She could feel his fingertips gloss over the buttons on her uniform shirt and she panicked.

"I'm fine!" She finally managed to push him off. "They all just hugged me really tightly."

They had a stare off for a few seconds before he finally sighed. "Fine, but if anything starts bothering you, tell me right away."

She let out a sigh of her own. Only Kazama would exaggerate over such a minor issue.

"So I assume you all made up," he said as he fixed her uniform for her. She was a little embarrassed -and was about to tell him she could button it up herself- but when she saw how intent he was on doing it, she gave up.

She nodded an affirmative.

"Were you able to clear things up with your parents too?"

She nodded again, but then paused. "The only ones I didn't speak to were Mr. and Mrs. Nagumo...but when I left, Shizuka-chan said they'll be talking to my parents tomorrow about their situation. I never did get to see them."

"Maybe in the future," he said as he finished the last button, pulling the jacket over her shoulders.

She smiled and looked out the window, though there wasn't much to see since it had already gotten dark. She felt Kazama pull her back against him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Maybe in the future," she repeated.

A/N: Thanks for reading!